The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1887-04-28
shakesPearean.

The Cleveland Press Club celebrated
on Saturday evening, at The H0llendenl
| the three hundred and twenty third
| anniversary Of the birth OF William
Shakespeare, the immOl tai bard OF Avon
A hundred or more gentlemen and ladies
DartieIDat d. After the banquet the chair
| man. Mr.. Covert Of the Leader, opened
with an address concluding as follows;
| We have chosen this day for the formal
opening Of the club because it is the
anniversary Of the birth Of one who has
made q deeper and more lasting I'M
preston upon the human mind than
any other man. Shakespeare, In the
words of Dryden, "had the largest ana
most comprehensive soul OF all men,
ancient or modern" We hnd IN bis
works q treasury Of thought such as no
other writer ever bFq00athed to the world
They are translated into many Ian
guages, and every advanced nation has
It's ShakesDeRTeRn literature. Since
1923 sixty complete and collective edi-
items Of his works have been published
In this country and England, each sdi
tlon multiplied by the tens and hund-
reds Of thousands. During the last two
centuries over two hundred 70 umeS or
comments and critlcisms on Shakes
Deare have been published, nearly all
being reprinted In frequent editions.
The exact number Of special w0Ike on
his separate plays is unknown, but they
mount into the hundreds. There are
thirty learned comments on Hamlet
alone, and IL Is safe TO say that the
greatest intelleCts of this century
have devoted more industry to the
task of BualyZing the ChRrac-
ter Of the Danish prince than was ever
given to the study Of any human being.
The works upon the character OF Shakes.
peare, the sources and histories Of his
plays, the studies upon his supposed
special knowledge, % seen in his
dramas, the arguments and specula IONS
based upon his handwriting, his birth
place, family and connections, his p0sst'
BILE education, religion, travels, Dor-
traits, grave, the selected quotations,
concOrdances, aids to 6hskesDearian
studies, the Boon controversy, all
combined would make large library.
Germany has twelve different trsnsla-
tiOns of Shakespeare, the work Of the
greatest literary men OF that nation.
France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Denmark,
Sweden, Bohemia, Poland and 2us-is,
enjoy Shakespeare In their own Ian
gnages. As time rolls on the impress
sion made by the great bard can only
spread and deepen. In the wide field Of
Literature his works stand out like q
mighty chain Of mountains, their f0un-
datiOns stretching and spreading across
the firm-set earth, their sides turrCwed
by the mighty COnVulsiOns Of time,
swept BY the external symphonies of
nature, fretted by silver brooks, enliv.
ened by singing birds, their sUmmits
hidden In the eternal mysteries beyond
the ken Of man. To this mountain range
Of history, wit, wisdom and philosophy,
generation after generation, IT'LL the
last syllable Of recorded time" will come
to seek for the vast and inexhaustible
treasures Of sublime thought. There
man will always find voices responsive
to the beatIngs Of his own heart. Thee
will be found the widest sweep OF imag-
lnati0n, the most powerful display OF
the human forces, the Dlnmmet OF
thought, sunk deeper Into the sea OF
life. There we find human nature In
all the immensity Of its breadth speak
ing to Us In common every day talk, or
glowing in sublimity and grandeur
O0mmunIng with the products OF his
brain we feel that we are In the society OF
q king Of men, whose throne rests In he
universal heart Of man, and whose en-
pire will endure and widen as long as
Intellectual grandeur Is wOrshipDed by
man.
Mr.. Bone, Of the Plain Dealer; Mr..
Purdy, of the Penny Press; Bose. OF the
San and Voice; Griffin, Of the Leader;
Major W. W. ArmstrOnR; Colonel Par
sons, and Richard Bacon, Esq responded
happily to various sentiments and Mrs.
Anna P. Tucker, elocutiOnist. recited
poem by Hon. j. Q. Covert.